Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and KKR & Co are acquiring USI Insurance Services from Onex for USD 4.30 billion, just two months after the group was put on the block.

The current private equity owners have been exploring a sale of the company for all of 2017 to date and have reached an agreement quickly.

CDPQ and KKR, along with some employees of the target, have teamed up to make the offer, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2017, subject to regulatory approvals.

USI Insurance has more than 4,400 employees across 140 local offices throughout the US, delivering property, casualty, employee benefits, personal risk and retirement services and generating USD 1.00 billion in annual revenue.

Onex, which paid USD 610.00 million for the group in 2012, expects to receive a gross multiple of invested capital of 3.4 times and a 34.0 per cent gross rate of return.

The buyout company picked up Parkdean Resorts earlier this month for GBP 1.35 billion and has also been exploring sales of other firms such as Californian business-to-business trade show organiser Emerald Expositions, potentially worth USD 2.00 billion.

Onex has been looking to divest part of its portfolio to return cash back to its partners, which also included the initial public offering of window and door maker Jeld-Wen Holding which raised USD 661.30 million in January.

CDPQ, which recently teamed up with Suez to purchase General Electric’s water and process technologies business for USD 3.40 billion, joined KKR in the acquisition of USI Insurance to help the company pursue its strategic plan for long-term growth.

Onex first explored a sale of the group in January, when Reuters cited sources as saying the Valhalla-based insurance brokerage will hold an auction that could value the group at around USD 4.00 billion.

Last month, Bloomberg state Carlyle, CVC Capital Partners and KKR & Co were among others to submit first round offers.